Final DeCSS case dropped unexpectedly

The DVD Copy Control Association has unexpectedly asked California Supreme Court to dismiss the case against Andrew Bunner. Bunner was sued by DVD-CCA for distributing the source code to DeCSS on his website.

DeCSS, the software that decrypts scrambled DVDs, has been in the headlines for well over four years now. Hackers were able to create DeCSS thanks to the fact that Xing Technology Corporation neglected to encrypt the CSS decryption key in their DVD player software. DeCSS opened a whole can of worms, and some of the lawsuits that emerged have drawn to a close only very recently (see related articles below).

Bunner's attorneys were obviously pleased by the surprising decision.

"I think that they are sick of losing," said Allonn Levy, one of several attorneys who had worked on the case on Bunner's behalf. "I think they have finally reached the conclusion that it is not a fight that they can win."

The case against Bunner was the last major DeCSS-related lawsuit still unsettled. The case against DeCSS author Jon Lech Johansen ended in January, when the Economic Crime Unit of the Norwegian police decided to drop the case.

1 user comment

Blow by blow we are kicking their asses into submission. Isn't it great we are one step closer to Free Ad-Supportive p2p where the artists will be supported no matter if we Download/share for FREE or not. Long live the FREE filesharing revolution. Not only that but when you purchase a DVD you have the right to make a back-up plain and simple and they can take that to the bank.
Voodoohippie